A Religion, Not a State: Ali ʿAbd al-Raziq’s Islamic justification of Political Secularism

180 Pages·2009·1.556 MB·English

by  Souad T Ali

A Religion, Not a State

A Religion, Not a State
Ali ‘Abd al-Raziq’s Islamic
Justification of
Political Secularism
souad t. ali
the university of utah press
salt lake City
Copyright © 2009 by The University of Utah Press. All rights reserved.
All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976,
no part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted
in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system,
without the prior written permission of the publisher.
The Defiance House Man colophon is a registered trademark of the
University of Utah Press. It is based upon a four-foot-tall,
Ancient Puebloan pictograph (late PIII) near Glen Canyon, Utah.
13 12 11 10 09 1 2 3 4 5
ISBN: 978-0-87480-951-0 (paper)
ISBN: 978-1-60781-951-6 (ebook)
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Ali, Souad Tagelsir.
A religion, not a state : Ali ‘Abd al-Raziq’s Islamic justification of political secularism /
Souad Tagelsir Ali.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-87480-951-0 (paper)
ISBN 978-1-60781-951-6 (ebook)
1. ‘Abd al-Raziq, Ali, 1888–1966—Political and social views. 2. Islam and politics.
3. Islam and secularism. 4. Caliphate. I. Title.
BP173.7.A4966 2009
297.2'72--dc22
2009022891
To the memory of my beloved mother, Rayya
To my beloved father, tagelsir
To my beloved families in the united states and the sudan

Contents
Foreword ix
Acknowledgments xi
Note on Transliteration xiii
1. introduction: Background and overview 1
2. Classical Juristic Theories of the Caliphate: From idealism to
accommodationism 19
3. The Caliphate in the Colonial era 40
4. ali ‘abd al-Raziq’s intellectual Formation and His Place among the
disciples of Muhammad ‘abduh 55
5. The Central argument 70
6. The Ruling system in the time of the Prophet 90
7. Critiques of ‘abd al-Raziq’s Position 103
8. The implications of ‘abd al-Raziq’s study for the debate over islam
and Politics 123
Glossary 143
Select Bibliography 149
Index 157
vii

FoRewoRd
In the wake of the First world war—the year was 1924—the government
of turkey proclaimed the office of caliph to be abolished. about a year later, a
little-known scholar at the azhar university in egypt published a book setting
forth reasons why the office of caliphate was not essential to islam and arguing
that the Muslim community worldwide had no reason to think that without a
caliphate islam was deficient. His name was ali ‘abd al-Raziq, and though not
well known at the time, his book stirred up an enormous controversy which
propelled him into the forefront of intellectual life in his day.
The book continues to command great interest throughout the islamic
world. dr. souad t. ali’s study is therefore very timely. Though not the first to
write on ali ‘abd al-Raziq, dr. ali provides the fullest and most accessible ac-
count of his political thought yet to appear in english. scholars and educated
laypersons in english-speaking parts of the islamic world as well as in the
west will benefit from dr. ali’s readable and rich account. Though shaykh
‘abd al-Raziq lived before the rise of what is currently called the “islamist”
movement, there is much in his arguments that a critic of the islamist position
might find useful.
dr. souad ali’s title says it all. islam is, according to ‘abd al-Raziq, a re-
ligion, not a state. This statement implies both a certain view of religion and
a certain view of islam. By saying that islam is not a state, ‘abd al-Raziq is
saying in effect that it is not islam’s prerogative to do what a state does. By say-
ing that islam is a religion, he is implying that religions and states have their
particular separate functions, which must not be confused with one another,
and that the functions of a state are not intrinsic to the mission of the Prophet
Muhammad, whereas the functions of religion are. The function of religion is
solely to prepare people for the world to come—to prepare them in particular
for facing God in judgment and for entrance into their eternal state. This mes-
sage is an urgent one and it alone defines the prophetic mission. states, on the
ix